Sneak Peek at the next Southern Romantic-Suspense Novel set in Nantahala! #KindleUnlimited

About ninety minutes west of Ashville, North Carolina, set in the midst of the Great Smokey Mountains, rests Nantahala, a quaint little town known as Land of the Noonday Sun. A beautiful backdrop with waterfalls, forests, whitewater, romance, passion, family secrets, betrayal, and murder... Well, in my stories anyway.If you've read any of the books in the southern romantic-suspense collection, you'll know that each novel is a stand-alone story that can be read on its own--no cliffhangers! But, I pull supporting characters who have proven their worth to star as protagonists in the follow-up stories. If you've read Land of the Noonday Sun and When Noonday Ends, you'll know that one of those characters was set with a choice at the end of the last novel. And as always, I left it to my avid-reading friends to let me know if they wanted to read her story. I'm happy to say there was a resounding YES! So for those of you who've been waiting to see who she chose, welcome to the first excerpt in the next Nantahala Book.Again, while I do not write cliffhangers, you will learn secrets of the first book, so if you're interested in this series, start here...

Michelle Turner allowed her gaze to wander over
her two would-be suitors. Both men were about the same height, just slightly
taller than her five-nine, but that was where the similarities ended.

Andy Montgomery, relation to one of the most
powerful and wealthy families in North Carolina, looked like a prince out of
one of the fairy tales she read to her fifteen-month-old daughter every night.

With platinum-blond hair, eyes as blue as the
North Carolina sky in the summer time, and a narrow face with a strong chin,
she could almost imagine him whisking her back to his palace on his white
stallion.

Jason Bearns’ rounder, more boy-like features,
even though he was nowhere near a young innocent boy, matched his strength and
his mood most of the time: dark. Most women might not understand his dark
demeanor, but she did. And admittedly, she liked it. His hair was the color of
chestnuts and his brooding, deep-brown eyes, the color of melted chocolate. She
was pretty sure she could stare into his eyes forever and never learn all his
secrets. Then again, he’d never insist on knowing all of her secrets either.

God help her, she never thought she’d be in the
predicament of choosing between two men. But here the two men stood, waiting
for her. She’d been alone for the last couple of years, but now both men looked
sharp in their black tuxedos and were such gentlemen that neither would step up
to the plate. How could she possibly choose between the two men?

As much as Andy’s classic good looks and
headstrong demeanor appealed to her, Jason was just as handsome in a rugged
country boy way. And as a retired cop, now a private detective, Jason could
certainly understand her and her previous life as a Marine. Not many men were
comfortable with a woman who could kill a man with her bare hands. Then again,
Andy had taken down her brother with one punch, and had been willing to go to
jail to protect his sister. That spoke of loyalty. Of course, Jason had also
protected Andy and his sister, her new sister-in-law, by taking out the two
people who’d tried to murder them. Either of her suitors would be a great
father to her daughter and would protect her and her family unto death.

Unable to decide, she stood her ground, smiling
at both men, hoping one of them would forget to be a gentleman for a moment and
make the decision for her.

As if on autopilot, she tilted her head as a
new man approached, weaving his way through the round tables that were set
around the room of her brother’s wedding.

Oblivious to her predicament, the man’s
familiar eyes focused on her. His bright blue eyes set against olive skin
seemed to dance in the shimmering candlelight in the ballroom of the Biltmore
Estate. If it weren’t for the fact that he looked so much like her ex-boyfriend,
Chad, she never would have recognized him. As it was, she couldn’t even
remember his name. It’d only been a few hours...a few hours that had changed her
life forever.

Smiling, he walked right between Andy and Jason
and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor. Michelle thought about
protesting, but her words froze in her mouth as she watched the staggered
expressions of Andy and Bearns turn to dark suspicion.

Serves them both right. One of them should have
manned-up. She bit down on her lip as she attempted to hide the emotion
bubbling just below the surface. Yes, the man she’d had a one-night stand with
a little more than two years ago looked like Chad, but he was nothing like her
ex-boyfriend.

Their day—and night—together rushed to her
senses. He’d staked his claim from the moment she’d stepped into the whitewater
raft. He’d looked at all his friends, then had lowered his head with a quick
nod. She’d laughed at first. She’d hung out with enough of her Marine Corps
brothers to know the deal. The first to claim the girl, won. And she’d played
along… all night. She’d be upset about her actions, which she had in the
beginning. But she could never be upset about the consequence of her decision.

Why couldn’t she remember his name? Think, Michelle. You held your own. You knew
what you were doing.

The striking man swung her around. “I’d hoped that
the guide at the ROCK hadn’t been secretly pining for you and hadn’t sent me
into a trap, sending me to a wedding of all places to find you.” He frowned
when she didn’t respond. “Please tell me you remember me, or I might die of
embarrassment.”

Michelle swallowed and cleared her throat. “I
remem—”

“Mommy,” her baby girl chirped, “Look. I’m dan…ceen
with pappy.”

The good-looking man who held Michelle in a
light embrace stared at her dark-haired, blue-eyed little girl, then back at
Michelle. He couldn’t miss the fact that her little girl was as dark-haired and
blue eyed as he was, whereas Michelle had blond hair and hazel eyes.

“You wanna run now?” she whispered.

He smiled at the toddler who looked so much
like him. “What’s your name, princess?”

“I’m not…prin…cess,” her daughter said through a
giggle, “I’m Sam.” She batted her little eyelashes, then hid her face against
her grandfather’s arm as he twirled her on the dance floor.

“Well, you look like a princess to me, Sam. I’m
Nicolaus, but you can call me Nick. Can I have the next dance?”

Nicolaus…
Nick,
he’d told her to call him, Michelle now remembered.

Her daughter peeked up and nodded. Michelle gritted
her teeth together as her father narrowed his brow, probably wondering why she’d
let a total stranger dance with his granddaughter. He had to recognize the
resemblance. The rumors that her baby was Chad’s must have even convinced her parents,
even though she’d sworn to her father and mother repeatedly that it wasn’t
Chad’s baby.

Lie a few times and suddenly no one trusts you
anymore.

Michelle glanced up at the man who still held
her. He was tall, close to her brother’s height of six-two, which was tall for
most women. For her, he was perfect. His height, that is. Not him… He was
younger than she was…she remembered that tidbit too. And he’d been moving back
to New York. He’d just been a one-night stand, a stupid fling on her part to
get back at Chad for taking off and marrying another woman. An indiscretion
that had changed her life forever.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“I told you. Mark, the rafting guide.”

“But why? Why did you try?”

“I’m not accustomed to one-night stands, Michelle.
Why did you run out on me?”

“I woke up and you were gone. Besides, we were
drunk. It didn’t mean anything.”

His dark brows furrowed. “I wasn’t drunk. I only
had a few beers. I knew you were too drunk to drive, the reason I insisted you
get a room. But I didn’t think you were too drunk to make decisions.” His warm
breath caressed her neck as he lowered his head while he continued to speak,
lowering his voice to a whisper, “You acted as if you knew what you wanted when
you asked me to stay?”

She released a nervous laugh. “Yeah...I guess I
hide my liquor well. Marine and all. Had to keep up with the guys.”

He pulled her closer, dipping his head again. “How
old is your daughter?”

“Fifteen months.”

He looked up at the ceiling for a second. “Which
means you got pregnant the spring before last?”

Michelle bit her lip, nodding her answer.

“So, she’s mine?”

Michelle felt her eyes fill and her throat close.
She swallowed again. Mine? What did he
mean by mine? Her daughter, like her, didn’t belong to anyone. It didn’t
matter. He was too young, a few years younger than she was, which made him
about twenty-seven. He was looking for a reason to run, she was certain.

She stepped back from him, knowing that their
dance was over. “Yes.”

“Okay.” He reached for her, pulling her back
into his arms, tighter than before, reminding her why she hadn’t let him leave
that night.

Chapter Two

The music changed to an upbeat song, so Nick
escorted Michelle off the dance floor. He almost laughed at the searing gazes
two men threw in his direction. The two men were as different as night and day,
but clearly, they shared a common interest: Michelle.

“Friends of yours,” he asked as he held out a
chair for the beautiful blonde he’d worked to track down the moment he’d
arrived in North Carolina. Hell, he’d been thinking about her for the last two
years, but his life had been too busy. North Carolina was the perfect escape
from what he’d been dealing with, though, and Michelle had been the reason he’d
chosen this city.

Michelle sat and looked up at him. “You could
say that.”

Ignoring the glares from the men, Nick sat down
beside Michelle and layered his arm over the back of the chair, staking his
claim, as he’d done the first time he’d seen her. If the men wanted to approach
her for the next dance, fine. But he’d make them second-guess themselves.

“So, Sam’s—”A tap on his shoulder had him
bolting around in his seat. He really hadn’t expected either man to be so bold.

“You son of a—I should have known.” One of his
buds from college, Tom Turner, yanked him up from his seat, pulling him in for
a man-style half-handshake, half-hug embrace. “What the hell, dude? You didn’t
tell me you knew my sister.”

Nick looked down at Michelle then back at
Turner. “Oh, snap! I went to the ROCK looking for you. You weren’t there, so a
few of my friends and I decided to go rafting, and…”

“And, you obviously did more than raft. I
should have known. If anyone could be confused with Chad, it’d be you.” Turner
clearly saw what Nick had seen the moment he saw Michelle’s baby, but didn’t
seem upset. Instead, he was looking around the room. “Your cousin is here. Have
you seen him?”

“Don’t leave,” Nick tried to implore Michelle
as she walked off, but Tom held onto his arm.

Turner waved her off. “She’ll be fine. She
likes to control men, so she’ll try right from the start to see if she can get
you to grovel at her feet. Don’t let her, man. She’ll walk all over you.”
Turner raised his hand, motioning to Cameron, who stood on the other side of the
room, next to two tall blondes. The one woman held a small baby and the other
was wearing a wedding dress, a young boy latched to her leg.

Cameron kissed the woman holding the baby, then
trotted across the room.

Nick looked back at Turner. “I can’t believe
Cameron has a baby. Aunt Candy wrote to my parents, but I haven’t had a chance
to catch up with him much since he graduated.”

“Times change, dude. See the woman with the
little boy.”

Nick nodded.

“That’s my wife, Shelby, and my son, Justin.”

“Congratulations, man.” Nick smacked his old
friend on the back. “Wow…both of you have kids…” Cameron made it to the table,
cutting off his words…his thoughts. He had a kid too. Wow! What a shock. He’d
been looking for the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about for two years, only
to find out he was a father. Why didn’t that fact bother him?

“Nick!” His cousin, who didn’t look anything
like him, since he’d taken after his father’s side, not his Greek side of the
family, hugged him. “My mom didn’t say you’d be here.”

“About that,” Tom started, flopping down in his
chair, “what the hell? You knock up my sister, then never call her back.”

“I didn’t know,” Nick defended himself. “We
went rafting, then went to have a few beers and shoot pool in Bryson. She had a
little too much to drink, but she was fine. I just didn’t want her to drive, so
I took her keys from her. I got her a room where we were staying…and…she
wouldn’t let me leave. But I swear, man, I didn’t know she was your sister, and
I definitely didn’t know she was drunk.”

Tom shook his head. “But why didn’t you call
her back? She said she woke up and you were gone.”

“Honestly, I was a little ticked. After we’d
spent the entire day together, she’d called me by another dude’s name. But I
was coming back. I had to. We had such an awesome time. I went back to my room
to change, and when I came back, she was gone. I would have gone back to the
ROCK, but I had a flight to catch. Dad was already ticked.”

Tom nodded. “So, how’s all that?” He glanced
around the room, at Cameron, then lowered his head. “You straight?”

“Tom, you know I’ve always been straight. I
told my dad I wouldn’t have anything to do with his family business.”

“Good. I can’t have my sister and niece
involved with the stuff your family’s into.” Tom shook his head again. “I can’t
believe it. You’re the dad. I should have known. Are you staying here?”

“Dude, I just got here. I had no idea.” Nick
ran his hands through his hair. “Damn, a father. I just. I had no idea. She’s
beautiful. Hard to believe I made something so beautiful.”

Tom laughed. “My sister’s not so rough on the
eyes.”

“Not at all.” Nick nodded to the table with the
two men who wouldn’t stop staring at him. “Who are those guys?”

Tom turned. “Oh…yeah. Umm…well, the blond guy
is my brother-in-law. The dark-haired, sullen-looking guy’s a private
investigator, used to be a cop, so you guys will get along great. And yeah,
they both kind of have a thing for my sister. But like I told you…you gotta be
tough to deal with Michelle.”

“What are you saying about me, baby brother?”
Michelle slid down in the chair next to him. “Don’t believe a word he says,
Nick. I’m an angel.”

Cameron and Tom both burst out in laughter.

“The Death Angel maybe, sis!” Tom said.

Michelle rolled her eyes, but then shrugged.
“So, how long are you back in town, Nick?”

Nick flashed a quick glance at Tom and Cameron.

“Oh, hey,” Cameron said, “I’ll chat with you
later, Nick. I have to run. Alexandra will need help with the baby.”

“Me too, Nick. My bride is certainly looking
for me.” Tom winked at his sister, then trotted off next to Cameron.

Nick turned his gaze back to Michelle, then
took her hand. “A few days. I hadn’t really made plans. Just needed to get
away.”

“And you thought if you tracked me down you
could get a quick lay?”

He huffed out a breath. “Ah, yes, I remember you.
Beautiful lady who likes to go whitewater rafting and shoot pool, but is crass
and talks like the Marine she used to be.”

“I speak my mind.”

“I remember that too. Sadly, your mind had been
on another guy while we were together.”

She cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“You called me ‘Chad’. That’s why I left. I was
ticked. But I couldn’t stay away. I went back to my room and cleaned up. When I
came back, planning to take you to breakfast, swap phone numbers, plan our day,
you’d already left.”

Michelle bit down on her lip. “Oh, sorry. But,
swap numbers? How was that gonna work? You live in New York, right?”

“Sure, but North Carolina is a short flight
away, and you’d said that you hated Nantahala anyway. That you wanted to move
to the city.”

“Things change. I have a little girl I have to
think about.”

“And this Chad guy? What about him?”

“It’s been over for years. Five months before I
met you, as a matter of fact. I just didn’t want to accept it. We’re okay now.
I’m actually good friends with him and his wife.”

“And I look like him? Your brother said he
should have known.”

Michelle dropped her head. “You do.” She
pointed behind him.

“He’s here?” Nick whipped around to see whom
his competition was, the guy who he supposedly looked like. His eyes traveled
over the room and rested on a dark-haired, tanned man. The man had a toddler
perched on his hip and had his arm around a beautiful brunette who looked to be
pregnant. “He has a kid and one on the way?”

“That’s him. Our kids get along great
together.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. Ourkids… His daughter. “You trust him with our daughter?”

Michelle narrowed her eyes too. “I would trust
Chad with my life. Trust me. You won’t find a better man than Chad. I love my
brother, and your cousin Cameron is cool too. But Chad is a saint.”

“Sounds like you still have feelings for him.”

“I don’t. We’re just friends. But if you think
you’re gonna walk into my life after two years and start telling me whom my
daughter can see, you have another thing coming.” She pushed away from the
table and stood up.

“Michelle, wait. I didn’t mean.” Nick jumped
up, but before he could make it to her side, the two men from earlier blocked
his path. “I’m not looking for any trouble, gentlemen.”

The dark-haired man rested his hand on his side.
“Then, I suggest you leave now.” A cop,
Tom had said. Yeah, he noticed his stance and how he rested his hand on his
concealed weapon.

“Do you need assistance to the door?” the blond
man offered. He wasn’t large, but Nick could see the muscles twitch in the
man’s jaw. He was a scrapper. He’d seen his kind on the streets.

“I’m good.” He reached in his jacket, but
stopped when the dark-haired man grabbed his arm. “I’m just getting my wallet.”
The man nodded, so Nick pulled out a business card. He held out the card to
Michelle. “I’m sorry if I offended you. My cell number’s listed. Please call
me.”

Michelle leaned forward and snatched the card
out of his hand, but made no effort to call off her hounds, so Nick turned and
walked away. He saw Tom and Cameron, but he’d catch up with them later. He had
a few business matters to take care of anyway.

The last thing he needed was a scuffle and for
his name to end up in the paper. He didn’t need anyone to find out he was here.

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